Disney's feature output expanded in the late 50s, creating a lot of memorable entertainment but inaugurating a decidedly lower echelon of product that has mostly been ignored for forty years. Savant remembers seeing Moon Pilot first-run and liking it, but he was ten years old at the time. A year later, Summer Magic created no impression whatsoever. I'd been permanently charmed by The Parent Trap at age eight and still remember almost every scene; Summer Magic had Hayley Mills but faded to a blur by the time I'd gotten home from the theater. What's for dinner?

Nothing in the story seems to go anywhere or have any real importance. The Carey's bankruptcy is just a momentary glitch and no attitude is expressed toward Nancy's dishonesty in tricking the odd Osh Popham into letting them have the house. We're eager to find out the reason for Popham's generosity (with another person's property) but there really isn't any. It's just assumed that when Hayley Mills' family has problems, it's the rest of the world's business to help them out. Nobody's saying that Summer Magic needs to be realistic, but I should think it would make particularly depressing viewing for some kid living in, or moving to a depressed neighborhood. How come we just don't go to the country, move into a perfect house and give parties all summer?

Summer Magic generates light interest in some low-key characters. Nancy's carrot-topped brother Gilly (Eddie Hodges) isn't that interesting, and his potential girlfriend, shy Lallie Joy Popham (Wendy Turner) is treated like a potted plant. Nancy gives her a final-reel glamour makeover out of good-hearted condescenscion. Dorothy McGuire has almost nothing to do; she's been playing similar roles in serious films since the late 40s and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. The script builds up an interesting yokel character played by Michael J. Pollard, who badly wants to go to the city. The pitiful payoff comes when he says how lonely he was away from home (we were barely aware that he left) and we're to assume he never leaves town ever again. Maybe he ends up at a filling station, there to meet Bonnie and Clyde.

The main non-tension pits Nancy against Deborah Walley's Julia character, the name-dropping pain-in-the-neck cousin who, for no memorable reason, naturally becomes a good egg. Hayley rolls her eyes and pulls some sneaky tricks on Julia (the dog jumps on her bed! Ha ha!) but there's no real conflict and no comment made about affluence, having money, being in reduced circumstances, etc. There's just Things Being Nice, and Things Being Yucchy. If one chooses nice, all becomes, uh, nice.

Hayley Mills is always watchable but the best thing in Summer Magic is Burl Ives. His voice shines in the forgettable Sherman songs, and that "Ugly Bug" ditty is surely a perennial in Disney Sing-Along collections. We know that Summer Magic is one really lame script when Ives silences his nagging wife Una Merkel, who just wants to know why he's giving the Careys his own and other people's property. He serves her some spiked punch and she turns into a jolly lush. Problem solved, kids. It works with LSD too - try it and see!

Disney's DVD of Summer Magic is a good enhanced transfer that presents the colorful show in an okay presentation. The color transfer does the same thing Savant noticed on the (much worse) DVD of The Happiest Millionaire: faces seem to have little gray patches, as if the actors' makeup weren't applied properly. And the effect shows up on many scenes and shots, not just here or there.

The audio is clear and crisp. There are no extras; the disc launches on a promo that can at least be skipped by hitting the menu button ... fast.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Summer Magic rates:
Movie: Fair
Video: Good -
Sound: Very Good
Supplements: None
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: May 8, 2005